1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to protective devices used for the protection of wellbore equipment, and more particularly, as an example but not as a limitation, to connector guards used to protect downhole connections, although other embodiments may exist in a wide variety of applications beyond this general area.
2. Description of the Related Art
The following descriptions and examples are not admitted to be prior art by virtue of their inclusion in this section.
In order to more efficiently and effectively produce oil from increasingly scarce sources, well systems have had to adapt with a variety of intelligent downhole devices. These downhole devices and tools, such as valves, sensors, and pumps, among others, typically require some sort of conduit to the surface or to other devices located further up in the well in order to provide power, communication, or both. The conduit may be in the form of an electrical cable, fiber optic cable, hydraulic control line, or hybrid combination of existing types of cables, among others.
However, another issue also complicates the ability to efficiently and effectively produce oil from a reservoir. Many current reservoirs, when they are located, are provided deep within the earth or under the sea. Completing a well may then require using two or more completions, such as an upper completion and a lower completion as a simple example. A similar situation also requiring multiple completions may exist when completing multi-zone sections of a lateral or vertical well or multiple branches of multilateral well. If a downhole device is located in a lower completion or a lateral branch, for example, a power and/or communication conduit may have to be extended to the downhole device from an upper location of the well. In order to establish this conduit, a downhole connection between the various completion sections would have to be performed in the typically harsh and dirty environment of the wellbore. These types of connections may be referred to as wet-mate connections.
Scales, sand, downhole fluids, grease, sheared rubber/element particles, mud, rocks, etc., are some examples of debris common in a wellbore environment. This downhole debris can cause a number of potential problems in attempting to perform a wet-mate connection. Hard debris may create an offset between the mating downhole connector parts and therefore cause them either to not mate with each other or to only partially mate with one another. The debris may damage or deform the mating surfaces of the connectors and the equipment, resulting in physical damage to the exposed connector ends. The debris may plug or block off ports or holes in the connector parts. In addition, the corrosive downhole fluids can damage the internal parts of the mating devices prior to the start of a wet-mate connection sequence.